Craft Leftovers Homecoming

This is me at our tea shop, Little Woods, enjoying a nitro tea during Book Club.

More than a decade ago… whoa. I started a blog called Craft Leftovers to fill a need in my life. I needed some outside accountability in busting my stash. I had my own pile of yarn and fabric as well as all the craft supplies I inherited from my grandma. Over the next several years my hobby blog grew into a full blown career as a pattern writer. It culminated in 2011 when I wrote a book for one of my favorite publishers – Storey Publishing – called Mend it Better!

Life is full of twists and turns and within a year of writing Mend it Better, I was hired as a curator at an Art Center and gave birth to our daughter Lucy. It set me on the path that lead to retiring from the art center and opening a tea shop with my husband! Whoa again.

I had always intended to write more blog posts about crafting, diy projects, cooking, and herbalism. I even took pictures and wrote the posts that just never quite made it to the internet. But right when I was ready to push that “publish” button… we got hacked. In a huge way! Literally corrupted all my data. I became pretty demoralized and the work involved to get it back off the ground was daunting and more than I could face while getting the shop off the ground and taking care of a toddler. So I put it off… until now. While we might be able to restore some of the archive eventually, I’ve decided to breath new life into Craft Leftovers and start anew.

I’m facing down that original spark that inspired my first blog post ten years ago. I need some accountability. But this time, it’s not just using up my stash. It’s doing something creative every week for me, for my daughter, and our home using what’s on hand.

Just typing this up has me fired up to craft, clean, and play with some fabric with Lucy – she’s been asking for some sewing lessons again!